= “It’s my birthday today, everyone! But you don’t even have a cake for me???”

「先生、ケーキというケーキはさっきみんな食べたじゃないですか！」

= Sensei, keiki to iu keiki wa sakki minna tabeta ja nai desu ka!

= “Miss, but you just ate all the cakes we had!”

Hi, 皆さん、日本語の勉強がんばっていますか？

= Minasan nihongo no benkyou ganbatte imasuka?

= Are you studying Japanese hard?

Good!! We received another request from R-san a couple weeks ago.

****************************************In my studies of the Japanese language I have come across several expressions involving と言う such as; と言うこと,と言うと、と言うもの,と言う訳だ and so-on so-forth. I have a lot of trouble knowing when to use these expressions and how they can be appropriately combined in sentences. Particularly, the difference between と言うのに and just plain old のに confuse me. Please, if you don’t mind could you explain these differences? It could make a great lesson to sort out the different と言う phrases! ありがとうございます！**********************************************************

Umm…I have to warn you before you read this lesson,…it is going to be another long long lesson, but I still won’t be able to cover the whole thing because there are tons of usages of という ( = to iu).

OK, it seems bottomless… but let’s jump into the deeper world of “toiu”. Ready?

という ( = toiu)

(Note : いう= Hiragana is more common)

(1) To be called, said, named:

1)「これはなんという犬ですか？」

= Kore wa nan to iu inu desu ka?

= What’s this dog? (What kind of dog is this? / What is the name of this dog?)

More casual : なんていう犬ですか？

= Nante iu inu desu ka?)

「フレンチブルドッグです。」

= Furenchi burudoggu desu.

= It is a French Bulldog.

2) この犬はマギーという名前です。

= Kono inu wa Maggie to iu namae desu.

= This dog’s name is Maggie.

3) 私は、マギーといいます。

= Watashi wa Maggie to iimasu.

= I am Maggie. (I am called Maggie)

More casual

マギーっていうの。

= Maggie tte iu no!

４) マギーという犬に英語を教わりました。

= Maggie to iu inu ni eigo wo osowarimashita.

= I have learned English from a dog who was called Maggie./whose name is Maggie.

More casual :

マギーっていう犬に

= Maggie tte iu unu ni….

5) 昨日、ゆかりという人に会いました。

= Kinou yukari toiu hito ni aimashita.

= I met a person named Yukari.

More casual :

ゆかりっていう人に

= Yukari tte iu hito ni…

6)「あなたが勉強している学習サイトはなんというサイトですか？」

= Anata ga benkyou shiteiru gakushuu saito wa nanto iu saito desu ka?

= What is the name of the learning site you are studying?

「マギー先生ドットコムというサイトです。」

= Maggie sensei dotto komu toiu saito desu.

= It is a site called Maggie sensei.com

More casual :

マギー先生ドットコムっていう

= Maggie sensei dotto comu tte iu..

(2) When you define something:

1) あなたみたいな人を意地悪というんですよ。

= Anata mitai na hito wo ijiwaru to iun desuyo.

= A person like you is called “mean”

More casual :

意地悪っていうんですよ。

= Ijiwaru tte iun desu yo.

2) 英語で「知的」は、なんといいますか？

= Eigo de “chiteki” wa nan to ii masu ka?

= How do you say “chiteki” in English?

「知的」は英語で”intelligent” といいます。

= “Chiteki” wa eigo de “intellingent” to ii masu.

= “Chiteki” in English is “Intelligent”.

3) これは漫画というよりも立派な文学だ。

= Kore wa manga toiu yori mo rippana bungaku da.

←これは漫画ではなく立派な文学だ。

= Kore wa manga dewa naku rippana bungaku da.

= This is not just a comic book but an excellent literature!

(3) When you emphasize something or some idea:

• 日本という国は不思議な国だ。

= Nihon toiu kuni wa fushigi na kuni da.

←日本は不思議な国だ。

= Nihon wa fushigi na kuni da.

= Japan is a country which is mysterious.

•今日という日はもう来ない。

= Kyou toiu hi wa mou konai.

←今日はもう来ない。

= Kyou wa mou konai

= The day which is today won’t come again.

•あなたと言う人は、…

= Anata toiu hito wa、…)

←あなたは... ( = Anata wa…)You are such…

(This looks like an unfinished sentenced, and it is, but in Japanese you don’t have to finish this particular sentence. The listener will realize you are saying that you are impressed or disappointed with them.)

(3) In negative sentence ~というわけ／訳ではない ( = to iu wake dewa nai.) It is not like…/It is not always…

• 職場の皆が冷たいという訳ではありません。

= Shokuba no mina ga tsumetai to iu wake dewa arimasen.

= It is not like everybody is cold at work.

• 無理だという訳ではない。

= Muri da to iu wake dewa nai.

= It is not like impossible. I am not saying it is impossible.

OK! Last one!!

というのに ( = to iu noni)>

(1) Even, even if, although,despite

Note : In some cases you can replaceというのに ( = to iu noni) with のに ( =noni) and the translation will be the exactly the same but というのに ( = toiunoni) emphasizes the meaning more. Also というのに （ = toiunoni) sounds more formal than なのに ( = nanoni) so we see them.

Thanks for another lesson Maggie-sensei. It looks like という is used for so many things. It must be SO common in Japanese.

I just want to ask about one of the example sentences.
• 明日が試験だというのに何も勉強していない。
• Even though tomorrow is exam, I have not studied anything.

I often see sentences like these and it confuses me. They use the continuous tense rather than past tense.
Shouldn’t it be 勉強していなかった or 勉強しなかった, rather than 勉強していない?
We are talking about the past here (I haven’t studied), so shouldn’t we use past tense?

Hello Dennis,
we can consider that the ～ていないpattern refers to the present perfect tense in English. As you already know, the present perfect is used to indicate a link between the present and the past (=> because something happened/occurred in the past, we can experience now the result of that).

Here’s an example:
お母さん：「朝ごはんもう食べた？」
①子供：「まだ食べていない」 (= “No, I haven’t yet” => we can assume that the speaker just woke up and will soon eat his breakfast).
②子供：「まだ食べない」(=”I’m not going to eat yet” => this implies the will of the speaker and tells us that the speaker is – probably – not hungry. He will eat his breakfast later).

I have one question Maggie Sensei, what does ということat the end of a sentence mean?I don’t quite understand its usage in this context: 字面にするとうまく伝わらないかもしれませんが、身振りよろしく歌にのせて返したということ。Thanks for your attention. I’m looking forward to your reply ^^

Hi Maggie!
Is 「と言う」 and 「って言う」 formal/literary, or is it also used in everyday conversation? For example, if I want to tell my friends, “They say that Americans smile more than others” would saying 「アメリカ人は他のひとよりもっと笑うっていう」 be okay? Or should I add a の at the end? Would that change the meaning because of the emphasis?

I have a question regarding the differences between 「～という意味」and 「～の意味」 when they are used in explanatory contexts. I have several reference books which use both of these, but I am unsure of the specific conditions that require the use of one or the other.

From my understanding, the former is for defining something, whereas the latter is used to elaborate on what the concept is about/indicate what it represents.

Ex.
赤というのは、「血のような色」という意味だ。
Red is a color that looks like blood. [“means” – definition]

As Always, You Gave Me What I’ve Been Exactly Looking For Dear Sensei, Though I Found Many English Sentences Haven’t Mentioned Me An Exact [Translation] To (To Ha) & (To iu No Ha), However You Show Me A Way To Deal With The Both.
_TASUKARIMASHITA! Arigatou Gozaimasu Maggie-Sensei, O Deha

there is one of the という variants i see a lot(TV,internet,interviews,books) but i never understand the meaning. how to use “ということで”?. sometimes i see ということで in the middle of a phrase and sometimes solely.

Hello, hello~
Maggie, please tell me, if we can use 「ってゆーか」 in the context of: “by the way”?
For example Speaker B asks Speaker A about something. Speaker A answers that he doesn’t know the answer and then he adds “By the way, who are you?” because he doesn’t know speaker B.

こんにちは！元気でしたか？
ってゆーか／てか／つーか
are all very conversational expressions and people (young people) use pretty randomly.
It is supposed to be used when you mention something related to your previous sentence but some people just use it as “By the way”.

Hi sensei,
How can ask if the sentence in the quotation marks is correct? For example, I want to ask if the sentence: “the apple is red” is correct or not, is it 「りんごは赤いです」という正しいですか or「りんごは赤いです」という言葉は正しいですか。And does it also work if I say I have heard that “the apple is red” by saying「りんごは赤いです」という句を聞いています。
Sorry if this is confusing(*_*)

という is one of the most confusing pieces of grammar for me. I have two questions regarding this

It seems when you’re modifying a noun with a clause with という. It seems you could just put the relative clause before the noun instead.

*From one of your examples*

何が起こるかわからないという恐怖 Is there a difference using 何が起こるかわからない恐怖

Second question if possible. The usage “That means” I’m not sure of the grammar pattern here. It seems that you could put ということは at the start for “This/That means that” or putting it after a clause to mean “Sentence means that” And than at the end of sentence 2 I see ということです like in example ということは、明日は誰も学校に来ないということですね。 But in the example before it has no ということです and it’s just あなたも旅行に行くということは明日は、私一人なんですね。 Which I assume is just casual のです at the end. So how’s it work exactly?

Sorry for the long questions. I seem to ask a lot of questions and I apologize for doing so. Not many people to discuss these problems with. Thanks in advance.

Hello Shen,
It seems you could just put the relative clause before the noun instead.
True. It is a subtle difference but
The difference between
何が起こるかわからないという恐怖 and 何が起こるかわからない恐怖 is
~という is more explanatory it describes 恐怖 more vividly.

2) Oh sorry. It is an old lesson but I think I didn’t give you any example sentence for ということは(=That means..)
I will add some later.
It is a very conversational usage but when someone tells you something and when you summarize what you just hear, you start with ということは

Hello, I apologize for posting again but after thinking about it a bit I was still slightly confused.

If ということは is basically shortening what was said before and than S2 talks about what that means…. Why is ということです used at the end? I see ということです used at the end without ということは at the start and sometimes as you posted ということは is at the start without ということです at the end

Example: 明日のパーティーに行けないっていうことか。
Does that mean you can’t go to the party tomorrow? The end being the shortened version I assume of ということ without ということは at the start…

And than as was posted before without ということです あなたも旅行に行くということは明日は、私一人なんですね。
So basically what determines what is left out and what is used?

Hello, thanks for the reply. あなたも旅行に行くということは明日は、私一人なんですね。 was actually my example . The ということです was not part of it. May have looked that way :p It was just showing the lack of it at the sentence.

I think I may be over thinking it or making it more difficult than it should be.

From reading a lot of examples and wondering a bit I’m going to guess that ということです used without ということは is basically just going “so you mean that” or “so that means” skipping the introduction of what you’re talking about. And used together it goes “Judging from the fact A, B”

Thank you my spell check angel!
I haven’t checked this lesson for five years.
I should change the format as well when I have time.
いつもありがとう！
As for your question,
明日が試験というのに is possible.
だ emphasizes the fact more.

Hello!
You use ~というの？（more casual: 〜っていうの）when you accuse /complain/ showing strong emotions towards the listener. (How could I ~? implying it is difficult to do so. )
It looks like a question but it is actually you just want to vent out your emotion.
So it sounds much stronger than regular question form.

But when you define something, there are cases that you can use というもの
愛は耐えるということです。
愛は耐えるものです。

However there are a lot of difference between them. It is too complicated to explain the difference here so if I have a chance, I will make a lesson on というもの

3. No, you can’t.

「日本語というとまず何を思い浮かべますか？」
When you hear “Japanese”, what comes to your mind first?

について means “about”
日本についてどう思いますか？
= What do you think about Japan?

にとって means “for”
私にとって日本は特別な国です。
= Japan is a special country for me.

4. 「家に帰るというとゲームを遊ぶ」→It won’t work..
But if you always plays games on your day off, then you can say
休日というと家でゲームだ。

＊＊＊＊＊＊＊
それではocdの文章を直しますね。２.の文章はよくわからなかったのでそれ以外の文章を直します。

（１）多分このレッスンというものがこんなに長くて難しいけどずっと数日勉強していたのにちゃんとわかると疑うんだ。→疑うんだ means “I doubt” You are not sure if you will be able to understand this? If so このレッスンは長くて難しいけどずっと何日も勉強したらわかるのかなあ。
２）だから疑いを解くように少数質問を聞きたい。→疑いを解くために but just say わからないところをはっきりさせるために、少し質問をしたいです。
３）「家に帰るというとゲームを遊ぶ」を言いたければ、良い？→「家に帰るというとゲームを遊ぶ」と言えばいい？
４）おわりだろう。→これでおわりです。
５）相変わらず。→いつもの通り
６）この文章という文章はがんばって書いたのにたくさん間違ってしまうって思う。→がんばってたくさんの文章を書いたけれどもたくさん間違ってしまったと思います。

長い文章を書くのは大変ですね。でもいつもocdは努力して日本語の文章を書いているし習った言葉を使っていてすごいですよ。
Good job!!!

Unfortunately I don’t live in Japan, I live in Poland – it’s a strange country in Central Europe.
But maybe one day my dream will come true and I will live in Japan.
Who knows, who knows. Life is full of surprises!

こんにちは、マギー先生！
I think you have explained everything what could be explained about という in an outstanding way. Great job!

I’ve got two small questions:
1. I’m just wondering about the following grammar construction: ～というはず、 ～というべき、～というともり.
a) In what kind of situations would you use という+はず、という+べき、という＋つもり?
(I’m sure that it is used in quotations: ex.「はい、いいですよ。」というはずがありません。I think, it might be used also in explanation like というわけ. How about other possibilities?)

一つ気になることがありますが。先生は私が最後の述べた文章では、「You can’t use というと」と言いましたね。実はこれは「どんな時どう使う」という教科書から取られた例文です(家族の名などをちょっとchangeしたのだけれど). この「というと」という言い回しは相手の言った言葉を受けて、それが自分の思っている内容と同じかどか確かめる時に使うものです。先生が言った通りの”To confirm what other people has just told you.”と同じ意味である。『「というと」の前を省略して接続的に使う場合もある』とある。ならば、「というと、赤ちゃんが生まれたのですね。」は「明子さんの家族というと、赤ちゃんが生まれたのですね。」=> 確認 ＝ 正解文章（だと思います）。違うかな？

こんにちは、先生！最近、日本語に訳し方が分からなくて困っている英語の文法がありますが、手伝っていただけませんか？ここから、英語で説明します。The grammar I’m talking about is “I know that” or of the like. I think in Japanese it’s called 接続詞。For example, “I didn’t know that you were moving to Japan!” or “I just realized that you were standing right behind me. You scared me!” I don’t know how to translate that “that” into Japanese correctly.

こんにちは！！
I didn’t know that you were moving to Japan!”
1. 君が日本に引っ越しをするということを知らなかった。
→Correct!! Good job.

You can also use “なんて” if you want to express the surprised feelings.
君が日本に引っ越しをするなんて知らなかった。

“I just realized that you were standing right behind me. You scared me!”
2. 君が真っ直ぐ僕の後ろに立っていたということを気づいたばかりだわ。驚いたよ！
1) 真っ直ぐ→すぐ後ろに
2) Since you use 僕, the speaker is a boy right? Then avoid using だわ suffix because it is for women.
The direct translation is
君が僕のすぐ後ろに立っていたということに今、気がついた。驚いたよ。
But the natural way to say this sentence is
君が僕のすぐ後ろに立っていたとは知らなかった。驚いたよ。
Again you can use なんて to show your surprise.
君が僕のすぐ後ろに立っていたなんて知らなかった。

So overall you can use “ということ” for “that clause” but be careful with the particles.
You have to choose pick the right particle depending on the verb.
~に気がついた

どういたしまして。
And there is no easy way to find your past comments.
But I did the search for you just this time. If you leave a comment or question in different posts in future, please write them down somewhere.

こんにちはマギー先生、
after using という grammar, I have found several sentences where they use past tense といった and I don´t understand why.

この高校では、テニス、サッカー、野球といったスポーツが盛んです。
たたみとかしょうじといった日本的なものに興味があります。

Is といった used because they talk about several sports in the first sentence and about several typical japanese things in the second one? Is the only explanation I find, but probably is wrong… Could you explain a little about the use of といった in this kind of sentences?

こんにちはマギー先生、すみませんが “ということだ” について質問があります。。。
“つまり。。。ということだ” どういう意味ですか。I have found a lot of sentences using this pattern. I have found that つまり meaning is “in other words”, but what does ということだ add to the meaning of this pattern? Could it be “in other words, it looks like…”?
For example:
山田さんはまだ来ていませんか。つまり、また遅刻ということですね。
Could I translate as:
“Hasn´t Yamada arrived yet? So/in other words, it looks like he will be late again.”

Hello Sandra!
Yes, we use つまり〜ということだ pattern a lot.
つまり means “in short, on other words, that is to say”, etc and summarize what it is said in the previous statement.
山田さんはまだ来ていませんか。つまり、また遅刻ということですね。
Your translation,
“Hasn´t Yamada arrived yet? So/in other words, it looks like he will be late again.”
is just fine.
Though I would translate,
Mr. Yamada is not here yet? That means he is late again, huh?
So つまり is often translated as “That means””I mean””You mean”

Oh, I see… “That mean…” Yes, I got it
I’m sorry 先生 but there is another sentence I have doubts about.

田中さんから電話があって、少し遅れるということです。

I would translate:
Tanaka called and said that he would be a little late.

That´s what I understand when I read the sentence, so for me it would have the same meaning with 少し遅れるといいました。

I guess here ということです meaning it is what you explained before: “(3) What I know is, I’ve heard that, They say…:” but here, Tanaka called and said it, it´s an information he gave about himself, so it´s not a hearsay, so I don´t understand why is ということです used here.

Yes, your translation is correct.
As you said, ということです has a function to pass the information that you have heard or seen to someone.
It actually means the same as と言いました and we do say
田中さんから電話があって少し遅れると言っていました。

but while と言いました／言っていました just describes the action of “saying something”,ということです focuses on delivering the message and it sounds more formal than と言いました／言っていました. and we use ということです (or とのことです）） much more in business situations.

Oh! Now I understand why it´s used ということです in this sentence! Both sentences I asked you were together at the same point of ということです in my book, and for me had different meanings, so I was very confused, but now I got both of them!
You really helped me a lot, マギー先生.

ああ、わかりました (*^^*) 対照的な時に、”は”が使われるんですね。でも、「知る、知っている」と言ったら、たいてい”を”が使われています。hmmm…. I’m still not quite sure when to use the particle か or particle を when saying “know”. I’ll write some example sentences and can you please correct them? (^_^)

eg1. (you don’t know how hungry I am)
君がどれだけ腹減ったか知らないよ
eg2. (do you know how to turn on the tv?)
テレビの付け方を知っている？
eg3. (how do you know where maggie hid her bone?)
なんでマギーがどこに骨を隠したか知ってるの？
最後の例 (I don’t know any shops that fix tv’s not working)
壊れているテレビを直す店のことを知らないんだ

なるほど〜分かりやすく説明してくれてありがとう！添削もありがとう！(((o(*ﾟ▽ﾟ*)o))) あっ、もうひとつの質問を聞いてもいいかな？日本語で言い方が分からないので英語で言います。When you want to say a sentence using the verb ‘know’ in Japanese, which particle do you use? Because, I’ve seen the particle は and を and also か being used with the verb ‘to know’ (as in 知ってる) Sorry for the long question, but all I want to know is what particle do Japanese people tend to use when they say 知ってる. thanks in advance

Ex. マギー先生のサイトを知っていますか？
= Do you know about Maggie Sensei’s site?
Ex. 真実を知りたい。
= I want to know the truth.
Ex. この携帯の使い方を知らない。
= I don’t know how to use this cell phone.
But if you want to show some contrast, you can use は

Ex. Aは知っていますが、Bは知りませんでした。(= I know A but didn’t know about B)
Ex. この携帯の使い方は知らない。( I don’t know how to use this cell phone but I know how to use other cell phone.)

＊〜か知らない ~か知っている = to know whether ~ or not/what, who, which, as to
Ex. 誰が来るか知っていますか？
= Do you know who is coming?
Ex. 何時に会うか知らない。
= I don’t know what time we are supposed to see each other.
Ex. マギーがどこに骨を隠したか知っている。
= I know where Maggie hid her bone.

このレッスンも分かりやすくてありがとうございます！でも、疑問があるんです。例えばですね、I want to know why the resources of our once beautiful have been overusedって英語で言いたいとしたら、日本語で言うと、「なぜ美しかった地球の資源は使い過ぎられたということを知りたいんです」という意味になりますか？その文章で「ということ」をつければいいでしょうか？よろしくお願いします(^_^)

今日は、先生!（^O^）/
このすばらしいレッスンを作ってくれて有り難うございます!!(やっと｢くれて｣を忘れなかった:D)
それぞれの使い方を分かったかどうかチェックしてみます、間違いを訂正してくれますか?
I’ll write my example and what I’m trying to say, here I go!
という：
・Quotation:
・・お母さんは今日遅く帰っていたと言った= Mom said that she was going to come home late.

・Be called:
・・A: あそこに座っている人はなんと言うかな?= What’s the name of the person sitting over there?
B: たけしという教師です= He’s a teacher called Takeshi.

･Define something:
・・その紫色のディスクはDVDといいます= Those violet discs are called DVD

・Emphasize:
・・スペイン語という言語は面白い言語ですね= Spanish is an interesting language

・Numbers:
・・今日の抗議運動は300ぐらいという人が逮捕されてしまった= During today’s protest, 300 people were arrested.

･Something heard somewhere：
・・A: へビーメタルという音楽を聴くと攻撃的になってしまうという= They say that if you listen to heavy metal you become aggressive。
B: そういうことは嘘だ!=That’s a lie!

･As relative pronoun:
・・昨日、誰もいなかったという海辺を見つけた!=Yesterday I found a beach where there wasn’t anyone．
・・ずっと息子を批判しているというのはちょっとひどいだ=It’s a bit severe to be always criticizing your son.

･To repeat something:
・・毎日という毎日は勉強していたというのに失敗してしまった= Despite of having studied every single day, I failed anyways.

・In case of:
･･また遅れてしまうという時は君を待つように電話してね=If you are late,please call me so I will wait for you.

ということ：
･When you determine something:
・・催しを準備するということが難しいです=It’s difficult to organize a festival
･･愛する人が死ぬときまで悲しみということが分からない=You don’t know pain until a beloved person dies.
･･英語が好きじゃなくても、そういう言語をわかるということがすごく便利です=Even if you don’t like english, it’s very useful to know a language like that. (I wanted to say “it’s very useful to know a language so widely used around the world” but I couldn’t figure ou how)

・To sum up:
・・雨があまり降っているということは今日出かけません=It’s raining too much, so I’m not going out today．
・・A:彼女と話すとずっと気後れしてよく考えられなくてしまう…=When I talk to her I get all nervous and can’t think well…
B:ということは彼女が好きみたいんだね(笑)=So it seems that you like her

・They say…:
・・今彼は病気で寝ているということだから別の日に来た方がいいと思います=They told me that he’s sick and sleeping now, so I think it would be better to come another day.

･To mention something that always happens:
・・パティオをきれいにしたばかりというといつも雨が降ってしまう=It always rains when I’ve just cleaned the patio
･･アメリカといったらマクドナルドだ=If you think in United States, you think in Mc Donald’s

･Ask and answer by yourself：
･･何回も中国語という言語は日本語より便利だと言われたことがあるが、なぜ日本語を勉強しているかというと大好きだから=I’ve been told a lot of times that chinese is more useful than japanese, but I study Japanese because I really like it.

というもの：
･Which is called…:
・・昨日、テルミンというものを始めて見た=Yesterday I saw a theremin for the first time.
･･まだ食べたことがないが、ハイチュウというものは美味しいそうだ=I haven’t tried it, but they say that Hi－Chews are delicious.

・To emphasize:
・・Facebookというものは癖になってしまった=Facebook has become a habit

という訳：
・To explain cause:
・・宿題を終えている間パソコンはとつぜん故障してバックアップがなかったから全てはなくなってしまった。という訳で失敗した。= The computer failed suddenly while I was finishing my homework, as I didn’t have any backup everything was lost. That’s why I failed.

･In a negative sentence:
・・悪い人だという訳ではないが、なぜか彼に信じられない… = I’m not saying he’s a bad person, but for some reason I can’t trust him.
･･あなたができないというわけではないけど…任せてくださいね= I don’t mean that you can’t do it but…please leave it to me.

というのに：
･･毎日練習しているというのにまだサンバを弾けない= Even though I’ve been practising every day, I still can’t play samba.
・・ちょっと冷たいだというのにその中で優しい精神がある= Despite he/she being cold, he/she has a kind heart.

It took me a while to write this down, but I finally made it.(笑)
To finish this loooong comment, I spotted a few minor mistakes:
・「•何故かというと…./どうしてかというと…+reason

・・A: あそこに座っている人はなんと言うかな?
→なんという人かな？ is better
B: たけしという教師です
→OK! If you want to make it sound more polite
たけしさんという先生です。is better.

･Define something:
・・その紫色のディスクはDVDといいます
→Perfect!

スペイン語という言語は面白い言語ですね→Perfect!

・今日の抗議運動は300ぐらいという人が逮捕されてしまった
→今日の抗議運動では300人ぐらいの人が

・・A: へビーメタルという音楽を聴くと攻撃的になってしまうという
→Perfect!

B: そういうことは嘘だ!=That’s a lie!
→Good! (But we usually say それは嘘だ）

･As relative pronoun:
・・昨日、誰もいなかったという海辺を見つけた!
→Umm it is possible if someone was talking about the beach before. But if you simply found a beach without people, you can just say “誰もいない海辺を見つけた。”
If you hear someone was talking about the beach and telling you a story, you can use という
Ex. 昨日、サメが出たという海辺を見つけた。

・・ずっと息子を批判しているというのはちょっとひどいだ
→ひどい。

･To repeat something:
・・毎日という毎日は勉強していたというのに失敗してしまった= Despite of having studied every single day, I failed anyways.
→We don’t say 毎日という毎日. But the rest of the sentence is good.

・In case of:
･･また遅れてしまうという時は君を待つように電話してね=If you are late,please call me so I will wait for you.
→遅れるときは電話（or 連絡）してね。待っているから。

ということ：

・・催しを準備するということが難しいです
=催しもの（or we often say イベント)を準備するということは難しいです。

･･愛する人が死ぬときまで悲しみということが分からない
→It’s OK but 愛する人が死ぬ時に初めて悲しみということが分かる is more natural.

･･英語が好きじゃなくても、そういう言語をわかるということがすごく便利です
→OK, a little correction to make it sound more natural.
英語が好きじゃなくても、そういう言語がわかるということはすごく便利です

・・雨があまり降っているということは今日出かけません=It’s raining too much, so I’m not going out today．
→あまり is used with a negative sentence. あまり〜ない
今日、出かけません is your will, so 雨がいっぱい（すごく／たくさん）降っているので出かけません is more natural. But you can say 雨がいっぱい（すごく／たくさん）降っているということは今日はキャンプは中止だろう。

・・A:彼女と話すとずっと気後れしてよく考えられなくてしまう…
→Good! Just ずっと →とても （ずっと is used to describe a time duration.)

B:ということは彼女が好きみたいんだね(笑)
→ということは彼女が好きなんだね。

・・今彼は病気で寝ているということだから別の日に来た方がいいと思います
→Perfect! Good job!

：
･･折り紙作家というと神谷哲史や小松英夫などなどを思い出す
→Just one など 神谷哲史や小松英夫などを〜

･･私の大好きなスポーツというとテコンドーだ=My favourite sport is Taekwondo
→OK, but It is more natural to say 私の大好きなスポーツはテコンドーだ。

･To mention something that always happens:
・・パティオをきれいにしたばかりというといつも雨が降ってしまう
→It doesn’t work in this case. This function of というと is usually used with a noun
･･アメリカといったらマクドナルドだ=If you think in United States, you think in Mc Donald’s
→Perfect!

・Given that “パティオをきれいにしたばかりというといつも雨が降ってしまう” is incorrect, how would you say “It always rains when I’ve just cleaned the patio”?
・｢ずっと｣と｢いつも｣の違いはどのですか? I’ve been trying to figure out by observing their uses in different examples, but it seems that both ずっと and いつも may be used as “always” or “forever” depending on the context :/
・The か used after 寒い in 「冬に北海道に行ってみればどんなに寒いかということがわかるだろう」 and after 辛い in 「子供に会えないということがどれだけ辛いかあなたにはわかりません」 has similar meaning to the one used in the “self questions-answers” made with というと？？
I mean, is it something like “how it is to be/feel (adjective)” or “how (adjective) it is when(something)” depending on the interrogative word preceding the adjective?? Therefore that question is used as the object of the sentence?

１）Given that “パティオをきれいにしたばかりというといつも雨が降ってしまう” is incorrect, how would you say “It always rains when I’ve just cleaned the patio”?

→Just say, パティオをきれいにするといつも雨が降ってしまう

２）｢ずっと｣と｢いつも｣の違いはどのですか? I’ve been trying to figure out by observing their uses in different examples, but it seems that both ずっと and いつも may be used as “always” or “forever” depending on the context :/

いつも is all the time, always and it is often used to describe your habitual actions.
ずっと is as I said, time duration or when you see things will happen continuously for a long time.

Ex. マギーはいつも仕事をしている。= Maggie is always working.
Ex. マギーはずっと仕事をしている。= Maggie has been working for a long time.

Ex. いつもいい友達でいて下さい。= Please always be my good friend.
Ex. ずっといい友達でいて下さい。= Please be my good friend for good. (You are talking about future from now.)

3) I don’t know exactly what your question is but

どんなに寒い”か” = “how cold it is”
どんなに辛い”か”= how hard it is

This か shows interrogative words and has a function to quote a question.

Hi, Maggie sensei!
Could you please tell me what っていうことで means here, because, well, even if I know the words I dont fully understand the conversation.
It’s from Saurai Sho’s dart trip in 24h tv of this year. Sakurai-san enters in a tabaco shop and it’s full of manekinekos,so he asks why there are so many manekinekos (it looks like a manekineko shop and not a tabaco shop, lol). So she tells:
瀬戸の友達が
陶器屋さんに行ってて
半端モノいらない？
っていうことで
陶器を受け始めたら
こうなっちゃったんです！！

Hi Ana!
OK, っていうことで here has a function to conclude the previous sentence. →As a result, That’s why, therefore
So in this case,
Reason :His friend who works for a ceramic shop asked him if he wanted the ceramics that they can’t sell.
↓
っていうことで= That’s why, That how I started…, As a result, therefore
↓
Result : He started to take them and ended up like this.

Sensei! Good evening!
Could you explain me please, how everyone understands what meaning of the word みんな is implied?
For example, “minna tabeta ja nai desu ka!” you can translate as “But everyone ate it, didn’t they?!”

@b2
Sorry that it too me a long time to answer your question. Now I am back to Japan.
みんな is a casual way of saying 皆(みな）
It could refer to people, things or issues.
So the translation is “everyone””everything” “all”

Dear Maggie-sensei,
since I think you are probably the best person to ask for that translation I ask here right away.
There is a sentence which is simply breaking my neck because I simply have no idea what’s the best way to translate it properly. It’s that one:
”いや、間違ってるのは、今現在俺はこんなことで悩んでいる場合では
ないということだ。”
I think it fits best in this category…does it mean “It’s not wrong that I am worried about such a thing right now” or is it “It’s wrong that it is not that case that I am worried about such a thing right now” …..or something totally different..the more often I try to analyze this sentence in my head the more difficult it turns out…Thanks in advance (_-_)

Hi Doci! You got a complicated sentence, huh?
I would say,
”いや、間違ってるのは、今現在俺はこんなことで悩んでいる場合ではないということだ。”
No, I was wrong. (What I have been doing was wrong.) It is not the right time to worry about such a thing.(Now is not the time to worry about such a thing)

So the speaker realized “現在こんなことで悩んでいること=worrying about such a thing.” is “間違っている=wrong” and “そんなことをしている場合ではない=it is not the time to do so”.

Aah! That makes indeed sense!
I think the real problem was the “場合ではない” thing…I thought I could translate it literally and didn’t know that its like the same like “時ではない” that’s why no matter how I thought about it..it couldnt make sense at all…
Thanks a lot for the quick reply! Helped me a lot!! ;)

Hi! Thank you for this!
I’m a little confuse:
the estructure ということです can be used to summarize something you just said without meaning somebody else said or I heard
Like このじゅうぎょうで満足していないということです。
That means that you are saying you aren’t satisfied with this situation, emphasizing that, that insatisfaction with the situation is something you mean.
I don’t know if I explain myself well but I hope you can help me m(_ _)m

Very 分かり易い＆包括的な breakdown of という・ということ。
I think I might have found a small typo(the romaji sentence is also off)
誤：４月というと別れた彼のことを考えてします。
性：４月というと別れた彼のことを考えてしまいます。
or
４月というと別れた彼のことを考えたりします。
I suppose the former is more likely though.

Thank you so much Maggie sensei! This is very informative!
These という(=toiu) ということ（=toiukoto) are very complicated but the always appear in daily conversation, I am very confused too, お陰さまで now I get a clearer picture on them…

Yet I have another question too:
Apart from という and ということ, “ん” is another topic which I have no way to understand and make use to it, would you mind making a lesson on this topic too?